Toyota Kirloskar Motor Breaks Ground For Building New Community Health Centre in Bidadi For Local Communities

* TKM to develop and construct a modern community health centre with an investment of over INR 120 million to cater to more than 120,000 people under CSR initiatives.

* Ground-breaking ceremony held in the respected presence of Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister and  Hon’ble MLA, Magadi constituency

In line with its commitment to support the growing healthcare needs of the local communities, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Community Health Centre (CHC) at Bidadi, near Bangalore. Dr. C N Ashwathnarayan, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, and Mr. A Manjunath, Hon’ble MLA of Magadi constituency graced the occasion along with senior Government officials and TKM senior official Mr. K V Rajendra Hegde, General Manager, EA(State), CSR, BIA, and PR.

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project was conceived following the appeal to corporates by the Ramanagara District Health Office for building healthcare infrastructure to cater to the increasing local demand for quality healthcare. CHCs are facilities run by the Government of Karnataka to provide affordable and comprehensive primary and preventive medical, dental and mental healthcare. TKM is investing INR 120 million for constructing a new two-storied building within the existing CHC premises in Bidadi on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. Construction of the new CHC is likely to be completed in the next 24 to 30 months. The new CHC facility, when ready, will benefit more than 120,000 people from the local communities besides highway accident victims. 

Apart from constructing the new CHC facility, TKM will invest in building outpatient rooms for paediatrics, OBG, anaesthetics and dental specialities. The CSR project involves creating injection, optometrist, X-ray, recovery and immunizations rooms, wards, different laboratories, pharmacy, staff rooms, meeting hall and OPD registration counters etc. TKM will provide furniture, fixtures, and electrical systems as well for the proposed CHC. While TKM will develop and construct the new facility, it will be maintained by the Health Department, Government of Karnataka following a handover from TKM under a public-private collaboration effort.

Commending TKM on relentless efforts towards the betterment of the society, Dr. C N Ashwathnarayan, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, said, “Healthcare facilities are of utmost significance as individuals belonging to all age groups and backgrounds need these facilities. The Government of Karnataka has placed top priority on providing citizens access to good health care infrastructure. We are glad that responsible corporates like Toyota have been consistently supporting the creation of quality healthcare infrastructure to serve the community in rural Karnataka. Efforts like these will help in bridging the gap in the healthcare system thus preventing chronic illnesses and promote a healthy lifestyle.”

Sharing his thoughts on the public-private partnership, Dr. K Sudhakar, Hon’ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare, said, “On this occasion, I would like to reiterate the Government of Karnataka’s commitment to provide availability of good quality health care to all our citizens. The primary contribution of Community Healthcare Centre is providing easy access to a vast range of medical services such as affordable medical and dental centres, medicines, medicare in rural Karnataka. A healthy lifestyle leads to a healthy community, ecosystem and environment. With this initiative, I would like to applaud TKM’s effort for extending its support to contribute to the local community of Ramanagara”.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. A Manjunath, Hon’ble MLA of Magadi constituency, said, “We aim to meet the growing needs of medical services across all the strata of the society and hope that the new CHC will improve the overall health outcomes of the community leading to better quality of life. Further, we are glad that corporates like TKM have been consistently initiating and completed projects in vital spheres such as health, education, skilling, environment, and road safety. These measures are much needed in the rural areas of Karnataka with immense benefit to the community.”

Talking about the project, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Governance said, “The initiative is a great example of Government, local authorities and a corporate coming together in understanding and catering to the critical needs of the local communities. It also underlines TKM’s strong emphasis on contributing to the creation of self-reliant and sustainable communities. We believe health and hygiene are two areas that are essential to achieving this goal. Hence, we have directed our energies in these two focus areas. It gives us immense pride to note that more than 800,000 people have benefitted from TKM’s CSR-led health and hygiene initiatives since 2001.”

“The new CHC project comes at a time when there is increased focus on strengthening the public healthcare infrastructure to deal with the current and future pandemic situations. Furthermore, given its location on the highway, it will also function as an accident and trauma care centre catering to the injured within the golden hour.”

From 2001, CSR has been an integral part of TKM’s philosophy. The voluntary initiatives taken up by TKM and our employees focus primarily on scalability and sustainability. The activities revolve around five main themes of Education, Environment, Hygiene, Health, Road Safety and Skill Development.

In the areas of Hygiene and Health, TKM has taken series of initiatives to enhance the   sanitation facilities in government schools and improving the awareness among schoolchildren. TKM has pledged its support to the ‘Swachh Bharat campaign.’ Under this initiative, TKM has constructed 795 school sanitation units in Ramanagara district in Karnataka [includes 124 units are in Varanasi and 94 units in Vaishali in Bihar].  Around 31,604 girl children benefitted from this program. Recognizing the need for a new approach, TKM also initiated the ABCD (A Behavioural Change Demonstration) Project with a focus on bringing in a behavioral change. The project implemented in 1004 schools aims at achieving 100 per cent school sanitation by increasing awareness. Under this program, more than 13518 individual household sanitation units were constructed.

Further, under its Shaale Arogya project initiated in the FY 2019, TKM in collaboration with Education and Health department of Karnataka carries out screening of schoolchildren for malnutrition, anemia, and eye diseases. A total of 14,248 school children have been covered from 109 schools in Ramanagara district. We intent to cover additional 5,000 students by March 2021 under this initiative. Moreover, TKM has so far constructed eleven schools while two more schools are ready for inauguration benefitting 2362 school children.

To improve healthcare infrastructure, in 2018, TKM constructed Primary Healthcare Centre at Byramangala in rural Karnataka with the state-of-the-art medical equipment and healthcare services benefitting over 20,000 patients. TKM has also began installing RO water purification units in and around Bidadi since 2012. So far, 41 RO units are installed benefiting 2.6 lakh villagers and covering 258 villages.

Motherhood Hospital Secures Its Frontline Staff With COVID Vaccinations

 

In line with Government of India’s ongoing Vaccination Drive to safeguard frontline healthcare workers, Motherhood Hospital coordinated with the BBMC and successfully completed the vaccination drive today. India has rolled out one of the largest vaccination drives aimed at first securing our frontline workers. The Phase 1 of this drive has been successful across the country.

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) gave its approval to Oxford/AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India earlier in January this year. The vaccination drive commenced at 9 am and the hospital ensured that all Doctors, Nurses, Medical and Paramedical staff at Motherhood were duly vaccinated. This was a free vaccination drive conducted under the aegis of the Government of India and the BBMC here in Bangalore. This vaccination will be required to be taken in two doses keeping a gap of two weeks between each dose. The recipients need to continue practicing social distancing and wearing masks even after the first shot.

Mr Vijayarathna Venkatraman, CEO, Motherhood Hospitals, said, “This drive has signaled a great start to the year for all of us at AHH. Our frontline healthcare professionals went above and beyond their duty to secure and save lives. This step is our bit to safeguard them first and thank them for their untiring efforts. Today, all doctors, nurses, medic and paramedic staff at Motherhood are vaccinated and safe from COVID19. We heartily support the Govt of India’s vaccination drive and are sure that subsequent phases will be fruitful and successful.”

About Motherhood Hospitals:

Motherhood Women & Children’s Hospital network is India’s leading single-specialty chain with 12 hospitals across 8 cities. The network has more than 1000 specialist doctors associated with it who provide clinical services in Gynecology, Obstetrics, IVF, Neonatology, and Pediatrics. More than 25000 healthy babies have been born in the Motherhood network and 5000 babies have graduated hail & hearty from the 150 specialized Neonatal Intensive Care beds (NICU) of the network. Each hospital has a state of art Operating rooms to provide Minimally Invasive Laparoscopic Gynecology surgeries. All the hospitals of the network follow NABH quality and safety accreditation standards. In addition, every hospital is supported by a full spectrum of Radiology services for women & children. More than 10000 women and children visit our OPD services each month. Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stands as India’s best and known as a referral centre for handling most complex preterm births. 24x7 Emergency services are provided at each hospital. Motherhood is the proud recipient of “FICCI Healthcare Excellence Award for Best Patient Care 2019”.

Bangalore City Civil Court Orders Yahoo India, Apara Enterprises To Clear Long Pending Payments To Inflow Technologies

Inflow Technologies Private Limited ("Inflow") is in the business of IT Infrastructure distribution services.  Inflow became the distributor of M/s. Network Appliance B V ("NetApp") in the year 2007. Apara Enterprises Solutions Private Limited (Apara) became the Channel Partner of Inflow and used to supply the NetApp products to end customers PAN India.  During the course of business transactions, Apara failed to pay/clear the invoices to Inflow, which resulted in huge credit outstanding.  Inflow stopped supplies of NetApp products to Apara since Apara did not clear the outstanding payments.

Subsequently, Yahoo India Private Limited being the customer of Apara was in need of NetApp products & services. Yahoo assured Apara and Inflow through letters stating that the invoice value will be credited only to ESCROW account jointly maintained by Inflow and Apara.  Based on the assurance of Yahoo, Inflow supplied NetApp products & services to Apara and Apara in turn supplied to Yahoo.  In spite of the assurance given by Yahoo, Yahoo failed to deposit the invoice amount of Apara into the designated ESCROW Account.

With commitment not being honoured by Yahoo & Apara and having no other alternative to recover the outstanding amount, Inflow filed a Civil Money Recovery Suit before the City Civil Court at Bangalore.  Upon scrutiny of the documents as well as the evidence given by the witnesses, the Court has held that Yahoo is liable and responsible for the payment payable to Inflow by Apara and accordingly directed Yahoo and Apara to jointly pay a sum of Rs.8,56,48,460.90 along with the interest @9% per annum. 

About Inflow Technologies

Inflow Technologies was founded in the year 2005 and is headquartered in Bangalore. A niche player in the IT Distribution Services market in India / South Asia. Inflow Technologies addresses the growing needs of organizations to manage and secure information more effectively and intelligently. The team at Inflow Technologies are well-versed with latest and the most powerful technologies available today for locating, organizing, managing, retrieving, analyzing, protecting, and presenting the information. 

Being a VAD (Value Add Distributor), we cater to Cyber Security, Unified Communications and Collaboration, Networking, Automatic Identification and Data Capture & POS, Infrastructure & Application Software, Storage & servers, Electronic Security products & related Services in South Asia.

We have direct relationships with 40+Global Technology vendors, have a strong channel of 1400+ partners, offering one or more solutions to 7000+ end customers.

Godrej Interio Launches A New Range Of Hospital Beds ‘Acura’ To Address The Varying Needs Of The Healthcare Industry

* Acura is a one-stop solution for all areas in the hospital – ICUs, Wards, Private suites, etc. in giving customers a range of options to cater to different hospital environments.

Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej group announced that its business unit Godrej Interio, India’s leading furniture solutions brand, in-home, and institutional segments, launched a unique range of platform beds. Acura range of hospital beds is a unique concept where the customer can upgrade their existing manual Acura bed to motorized functions. With the new range, Godrej Interio is addressing the need for functional, suitable infrastructure for hospitals in urban and rural India.

The world is currently grappling with issues like complex health and technology ecosystems, changing patient demographics, and rising healthcare costs. For the same reason, healthcare stakeholders need to start investing in innovative healthcare models, advanced technologies, better equipment, and other infrastructural models to prepare the countries for unexpected pandemics and build a healthy world.

India’s healthcare system seems to be at crossroads. There are some positive accomplishments but also has some serious shortcomings. Amongst the numerous challenges that beset Indian healthcare, the one particularly worrisome challenge is the infrastructure and deficiency of funds. As a solution to this problem Acura range of hospital beds comes with an option to create a bed according to the specifications and budget.

On the new product launch, Anil Mathur, Chief Operating Officer Godrej Interio said, “At Godrej Interio, our mission has always been about enriching the quality of life every day everywhere. The Indian healthcare sector is growing at a brisk pace due to its strengthening coverage, services, and increasing expenditure by public as well as private players. It is, however, lacking in healing environments that focus on providing utmost comfort and safety to patients while handling the cost challenge. We at Godrej Interio keep working on multiple innovations keeping in mind the unique challenges faced by the healthcare industry. Acura range of beds is a testimonial of it. The customer gets to choose from a menu of options and create a bed as per their needs and can also convert it from manual to motorize at Hospital premises. This would help hospitals to upgrade the same bed at later date. It is a matter of pride to see Godrej Interio endeavoring to uplift the quality of experience at healthcare facilities through multiple innovations.”

Sameer Joshi, Associate Vice President, Godrej Interio said, “Healthcare has become one of India’s largest sectors - both in terms of revenue and employment is growing at a CAGR of 16-17 percent. However, the healthcare facilities in India are often incompatible with changing needs. Godrej Interio Healthcare business focuses on creating environments that support patients and families in process of healing. These ergonomically designed healing environments focus on the efficiency, empathy, and wellbeing of all stakeholders including patients, caregivers, and doctors. The newly launched Acura range of hospital beds highlights our design philosophy which is based on adopting a human-centric approach and using adaptive space solutions for improved patient-doctor interaction.”

Acura beds are the one-stop solution for all areas in the hospital – ICUs, Wards, Private suites, etc. This range gives customers 'Buy what you need' options for varying needs of different hospital environments. And is an innovative start towards giving the Indian healthcare-Urban and Rural a major transformation. 

India's Next Sushruta – Meditronic India's Case Based Compeition For Resident Doctors Culminates In Grand Finale

* One of Its Kind Academic Contest Aimed at Providing Clinical Exposure To Nurture Budding Surgeons in India

* Three Winners Arising from Over 1300+ Entries Across 80 Cities Will Get a Chance To Take Part in an International Clinical Observership at a Medtronic Innovation Center

India Medtronic Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT), concluded the grand finale of India’s Next Sushruta (INS), a case study competition targeted towards postgraduates and super-specialty students in the field of surgery. The concluding round saw finalists competing for the top three spots with a chance to take part in an international clinical observership at a Medtronic Innovation center. The finale saw Dr. Usha H., MCh Surgical Oncology from Kidwai memorial institute of oncology, Bangalore win over the jury with her presentation to clinch the title of India’s Next Sushruta.  Dr. Souvik Paul, DNB Surgical Gastroenterology from BLK Superspeciality Hospital, New Delhi was adjudged the 1st runner up, while Dr. Nitesh Kumar, MS Urology from Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad took the 2nd runner up place.

Named after the father of early surgery, Sushruta, India’s Next Sushruta is a one of a kind industry-academia program in the med-tech space in India. The competition saw participation from across specialties including general surgery, gastro and oncology. The multi-stage academic contest was administered in partnership with Docplexus, who executed the program spanning 80 cities and conducted quantitative quizzes and abstract submissions on their platform.

“At Medtronic, we are committed to transforming healthcare, but we know we can’t do it alone. As global healthcare evolves, it is our responsibility as partners to evolve with it. India’s Next Sushruta is a unique opportunity for young doctors from multiple medical schools and disciplines to come together to present their views to address health issues plaguing the country and gives these medical students to gain skills and experience thinking outside the box while continuing their education,” said Madan Krishnan, vice president & managing director, India Medtronic Pvt. Ltd. “Through this program we hope to address prevalent capacity and awareness barriers along with increasing patient access to various therapies in the future. We are thrilled with the opportunity to engage with young resident doctors and Heads of Departments of these medical institutes.”

The grand finale of INS involved 20-minute case presentations by the top ten finalists judged by a panel comprising of experts from major institutes:

* Dr. Avanish Saklani, associate professor robotic lead colorectal, Tata Memorial Center, Mumbai

* Dr. Abhay Dalvi, professor & unit head, Dept. of Surgery, KEM Hospital, Mumbai

* Dr. Anil Aggarwal, director, professor & head, Dept. of Gastrointestinal Surgery, GB Pant Hospital, Delhi

* Dr. S Sudhindran, professor & chief transplant surgeon, Dept. of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Amrita Hospital, Kochi

* Dr. SVS Deo, professor & head, Surgical Oncology, AIIMS Delhi

* Dr. Madhabananda Kar, professor & head, Dept. of Surgical Oncology, AIIMS Bhubaneswar

Raising adequate awareness about disease and therapy areas coupled with skill development to achieve technology adoption is the long-term objective of INS. Consequently, from among the top 10 finalists, the final 7 have been selected to participate in proctorship programs in India.

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world’s largest medical technology, services and solutions companies – alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 90,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in more than 150 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together.

Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

Study Reveals Chennai And Delhi Lead The Demand For Education Related Services

 

* Placement Consultancies, Job training & Entrance Exam Coaching are the top leading service categories

A study undertaken by Sulekha.com, India’s leading AI-driven tech platform for expert services has unveiled interesting trends and insights about the education related service categories that have seen an increase in December 2020.

This study is based on visits and searches by nearly 2 lakh +users across top 8 cities that landed on Sulekha in December 2020.

Key findings of the study:

* The Top 3 education related service categories that have seen a spike in online searches include: Placement Consultancies, Job training & Entrance Exam Coaching.

* The education related service categories grew by 30% across the top 8 cities (November Vs December)

* The top 5 cities that are leading in online searches across service categories include: Chennai Delhi and Bangalore followed by Hyderabad and Mumbai.

* In Chennai, the top 3 education related services that are leading include: Job Training, Placement Consultancies and Language Training. These services have grown by 20% since November.

* In Delhi, the top 3 education related services that are leading include: Placement Consultancies, Job Training and Competitive Exam Coaching. These services have grown by 43% since November.

* In Bangalore, the top 3 education related services that are leading include: Placement Consultancies, Job Training and Distance Education. These services have grown by 20% since November.

* In Hyderabad, the top 3 education related services that are leading include: Placement Consultancies, Job Training and Competitive Exam Coaching. These services have grown by 30% since November.

* In Mumbai, the top 3 education related services that are leading include: Placement Consultancies, Job Training and Distance Education. These services have grown by 32% since November.

* In Pune, the top 3 education related services that are leading include: Placement Consultancies, Job Training and Entrance Exam Coaching. These services have grown by 40% since November.

* In Kolkata, the top 3 education related services that are leading include: Distance Education, Job Training and Placement Consultancies. These services have grown by 20% since November.

* In Ahmedabad, the top 3 education related services that are leading include: Job Training, Placement Consultancies and Entrance Exam Coaching. These services have grown by 54% since November.

Satya Prabhakar, Founder & CEO, Sulekha.com, said, “According to CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy), India's unemployed count in December rose to 38.7 million. This data is consistent with the education related service categories that have witnessed an increase in the month of December i.e. Placement Consultancies and Job Training.”

COVID- 19 Impact: Discrepancy In Employee Verification Soars Across Sectors In 2020

The discrepancy in employee verification across sectors increased significantly in 2020. Sectors like banking, BPO, FMCG, Retail, Manufacturing, Pharma & Healthcare displayed background screening discrepancy percentages higher than the industry average of 9.4 % in Q3, 2020.

According to the Trends Report quantifying the hiring trends and qualifying the nature of discrepancy patterns in India, curated by First Advantage India, a leading background screening firm headquartered in the US, the increase in discrepancy percentages were higher in Q3 as compared to Q2. Out of these, discrepancy percentage in male were higher at 10% as against 8% in female verified cases.

“Since companies actively employing during this time are working directly with people in remote locations, conducting background checks becomes an important task in the hiring process for organizations. At First Advantage India we have embarked on a digital journey that is driven by modern technology and alternate screening solutions,” explains Amit Singh, Head- Commercial, First Advantage India.

Discrepancies across age, sector, zones

The highest number of discrepancies have been detected in the >=22 to 30 years age bracket candidates. 92 % of the fraudulent occurrences have transpired in the 22 to 40 years bracket in both the quarters, says the report.

30 out of every 100 candidates screened in the Telecom sector were discrepant which is in line with the usual high trends obtained in the Telecom sector. However, the Healthcare industry surprisingly showed a high discrepancy percentage of 27.4% in July – September 2020 way above than 14.6% in the previous quarter of 2020.

The discrepancy trend across zones in India have also displayed an interesting pattern. The discrepancy rate for education checks is the highest in the Northern Zone of India whereas the Southern zone of India displayed significantly higher discrepancy rate for employment & address checks.

A study of Education discrepancies shows that suspect institution forms the highest chunk in this quarter at 44%. Suspect institution includes a miniscule percent of fake institution also. Fake document is at 40%. Discrepancies like ‘Other False Education includes ‘Did not officially complete the course, Registration or Credential or membership expired etc’

Period of stay forms the biggest chunk of discrepancies at 96%. In the third quarter of 2020- Associate level discrepancy continues to top the graph at 65% followed by middle management at 18% and First Level Supervisor at 12%. The graph depicts the Senior Management employee level discrepancies at just 3%.

“When an extraordinary crisis brought the entire world to a complete standstill, we at First Advantage responded swiftly by transforming our operations & processes to provide innovative solutions which helped companies make hiring decisions and proceed with candidate on-boarding. While many companies have reduced hiring or implemented a hiring freeze, there are organizations hiring as usual and, in some industries, many are even ramping up,” adds Amit Singh.

To complete the hiring needs, companies transferred the verification process from standard to digital mode of verification particularly for address and employment checks, he explains.

Recovery levels

Though the pandemic has played havoc on overall markets and all businesses big or small have been hit, the quarter of July- Sep 2020 has shown a recovery of 32% as compared to previous quarter. Almost all industries like IT, Insurance, Consulting, E Commerce & Logistics, Financial Services, FMCG, BPO, Manufacturing, Pharma, Retail & Staffing have shown a hike in volumes.

Digital services companies like Online Education, Online Food Delivery, Over the Top Media Services and Medical Devices smartly diversified their operations to catch up on new trends.

The study also shows a sharp V shaped recovery when we see all the three quarters of 2020 with a bird’s eye view.